The first thing I do when a new client asks me about upgrading their web copy is to visit their site – and I was a little bit startled about what I saw the past couple of days.

Far too many people are missing the SEO opportunity afforded by Title Tags! I saw lots and lots of pages with titles like “Home” and “About.” I guess you know – those words don’t do a darn thing to help the search engines find your pages!

But still, even folks who are working to put keyword-rich copy into their pages often forget all about the title tags. So go check yours – if they don’t give a good indication of what is to be found on each page of your site, then change them. But don’t do it in a hurry – stop and think about a phrase that will appeal to both the search engines AND any human who happens to glance up there at the top of the screen. You have about 65 spaces to use, so use them well!

A second place that is often ignored is alt tags for photos. These serve two purposes. One is search engine optimization – it gives you an extra place to add the keyword. But it also is an aid to those whose internet connection doesn’t allow them to see photographs – and those who are visually impaired and are using software that “reads” the page aloud to them.

That means each photo should have a caption that describes the photo.

I just read a warning article saying that some people are using that tag to “stuff” keywords – and how they’re apt to be penalized by Google for doing that. It’s also rude – How would you like to be listening to the copy on a page and suddenly be hit with a long list of keywords? Yuck!

So, if your site is about dog obedience training, your alt tag for a  photo might read: “image of mixed-breed dog at dog obedience class.” Or, if you’re a Realtor and show a picture of clients next to the sold sign in front of their home, you might say “Image of happy clients with home just sold by Joe Jones, your Dallas Realtor.”

Both of these items are easy to overlook when you’re hurrying to get a new page finished and uploaded – as is the meta description. I’ve forgotten a few times myself, even though I harp about it. So check your pages – make sure you’re taking advantage of all the simple SEO methods as well as the not-so-simple ones.

One such way is to give extra attention to your title tags. You know, those words that sit up there at the top of each web page, virtually ignored by all human eyes.

You may ignore them, but the search engines don’t, so they’re a perfect spot to add some SEO juice.

Each page on your site should have a unique title tag, and it shouldn’t say “home page,” “about us” or “services.”

It should use your best keywords in a clear statement that indicates what that page is all about.

I said a “quick” boost – but that isn’t exactly true. Making the change on your website is quick, but you should spend a little time composing that statement. You have about 65 spaces, and should use them well. Try to put the keyword at the beginning.

For instance, instead of saying “About Sue Smith, Atlanta real estate agent,” turn it around to say “Atlanta Real estate agent Sue Smith.”

Another easy boost is adding alt tags to all your photos. No matter what kind of picture you use on line, you can think of some way to put your keywords into a description of that photo. The reason it’s called an “alt” tag, by the way, is because those are the words that will show up in place of the photo if for some reason it won’t load.

While you’re there, check to see that you’ve included your best keywords in your visible page title, and in the first paragaph of your copy. If you have to, keep turning your copy upside down and sideways to get them there. (But don’t stuff!)

Also, check your page length. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard from several sources lately that in order to help your SEO, your copy needs to be at least 250 words on each page.

By the way, if your site is still not even close to page 1, these methods will help get it moving. Google rankings remain a mystery, but we each need to do all we can to sensibly make our web sites easier for Google – and our clients – to find.

I think we owe it to those clients to make the effort. After all, we have good things to offer!

You probably already crop and re-size each picture. Now take a minute to give each one a name that reflects one or more of your keywords.

Hopefully, you’ve done the research and know which of your keywords gets the most action – so try to use that one. If you must, you can name them with “keyword-1.jpg” and “keyword-2.jpg” but it would be easier for you to keep track if you gave them individual names.

If you’re an animal shelter you could say “shelter-dog-sam.jpg” or “rescue-dog-joe.jpg”

This naming probably won’t matter much to you when you’re working on the site initially, but when you get ready to update and change photos, being able to identify them by their names does save time and trouble.

The main thing is, the search engines read those names just like they read the content on your site, so use this extra boost to SEO.

Then, remember to add an alt tag. When you’re done, the entry should look something like this:

<img src=”rescue-dog-joe.jpg” alt= “rescued pomeranian dog”>

Depending upon the program you’re using, you may also include height=”X” and width=”x”

When it comes to SEO, every little bit helps, so take the extra minute to get these extra keywords into your site.

Boundless success!

Marte